Ireland Books

Declan Kiberd's is one of the few historioes of contemporary Irish literature which manages to do justice to the literature in Irish language, too. It is also a fascinating view on the development of the modern Irish nationalism and ideology. It is also brilliantly written. I have found it a treasure trove, also because it offers valuable analogies for a student of my own country's history. I sincerely hope you buy it, and read it, and re-read it. It is worth ten times what you pay for it.

This book offered me a lot on first reading, and even more upon re-reading. I'm sure I'll be going back again, as his ideas about not only Anglo-Irish literature, but the uses of history in constructing a present identity for Ireland really impressed me a great deal.

My absolute favorite quote of 1998 appears on p. 293 "...History thereby becomes a form of science fiction: in order to get a fair hearing in a conservative society, the exponents of revolution had to present their intentions under the guise of a return to the idealized past..." If you're as confused as this Irish American was about how to make sense of the disparate Irish histories - you need this book!

Zuber contends that there really was no Schlieffen Plan and that the movements of the German army in 1914 was improvised by Molke in response to failure on the German left flank. Zuber writes that Schlieffen planned to let the French army to across the Rhine and then be surrounded by the German army. Schlieffen made both the right and left flanks strong contrary to popular belief. Moltke attacked the French in 1914 with both flanks equally strong but changed the main direction of the attack to the right flank after the Germans failed to destroy the French forts on the left. This is a highly interesting and controversial book that is highly readable. The main weakness of this book is its expensive price.

In this monograph Dr. Zuber sets out to challenge one of the key assumptions on the historiography of the German war planning prior to the First World War. The central thesis of this book calls into question the Schlieffen Plan, Germany's pre 1914 deployment plan for the War as being an aggressive war plan with an intent to annihilate the French army in one quick enormous battle (developed in 1905-6 by the retired Chief of the German General Staff, Count Alfred von Schlieffen). Zuber claims that, on the contrary, there was never such a plan and also that German strategy in 1914, far from being aggressive in intent, was based on a defensive plan designed to deal with a two front Franco-Russian attack on Germany.
According to conventional wisdom, the Schlieffen war plan envisaged the concentration of majority of the German army in the west between Metz and Aachen (82divisions, right wing of the front) and the rest (14 divisions) on the left flank in Lorraine. The right wing of the army would advance around French fortifications through Belgium, Luxemburg and northern France, continually turning the French left flank and decimating the French army.
Zuber argues that there never was a "Schlieffen plan".The "plan" was a result of delibrate attempts in the 1920's by Generals Groener, von Kuhl and Ludendorff to excuse their defeat in WW1 in general and more specifically to explain the German army's failure to defeat the Anglo-French army in August and September 1914.By arguing that the defeat was the result of Chief of Staff Moltke, not sticking to the script of the "plan", the responsibility for the loss could be conviniently shifted to the by now dead Moltke instead of the strategic and tactical mistakes of the General staff.Zuber also contends that neither Schlieffen nor Moltke had any plans to implement an offensive war plans but were planning to offset German numerical inferiority (1:2) by utilizing the force multipliers as for instance the mobility provided by German rail network to counterattack against the expected Franco-Russian offensives.More generally, Zuber argues for a revisiting of the traditional allocation of the war guilt and that the case against German militarism will have to be proven without the support of the Schlieffen plan (page 302).

The book is divided in 6 chapters. The first chapter investigates in great detail the explanations forwarded by the Germans for their defeat in the War and the genesis of the Schlieffen plan myth. He also deconstructs the debate in the 1920's and 1930's between Hans Delbrueck and the historians of the General Staff. The second chapter is an evaluation of the elder Moltke's and his successor General Waldersee's strategic thinking and writings (1871-1886). After a chapter on Fortresses, spies and crisis (1886-1890) where he traces the intellectual and military context of Schlieffen's thoughts, Zuber examines Schlieffen's writings, staff rides and annual military exercises from 1891-1905 in great detail. The final 2 chapters focus on Schlieffen successor Moltke's modified war plans (1906-1914 that still included a sweep through Belgium but alllocated more divisions to Lorraine and enough troops to defend against the initial Russian moves in East Prussia.

Indeed, the final chapters are the strongest in the book and are a major contribution to scholarship. For a general reader like me, these chapters are eye openers as to how detailed, comprehensive and intricate the German war planning was. For each year the chapters discusses how the overall war plan was translated into Aufmarschplan (initial deployment and military travel plans for each unit) and Aufmraschanweisungen (initial orders to army commanders).
A book draws on and benefits from using previously unavailable archival sources prior to 1990, from the Soviet collection of German documents. A key document among others discussed is the manuscript titled, 'Der Schlieffenplan' written by Major Dieckmann, a historian based in the Reicharchiv in the 1920's. This manuscript is a study of the developemnt of Schlieffen's military thought upto 1904 and was based on original documents for the Schileffen's years as the Chief of Staff. Zuber uses this to build his case against the conventional interpretation of the Schlieffen plan as an offensive plan focussing solely on the western front. Since a majority of the primary documents for the war planning for these years were completely lost in the allied bombing raid on Pastdam during WW2, Dieckmann's manuscript is a crucial source.
Another strength of the book is the discussion in great detail of the first 45 days of WW1 when German Armies 1,2 and 3 fought their way almost to Paris, while armies 5,6, and 7 successfully accompalished their mission of defending Southern Germany from French invasions. The book also has 13 maps and that makes it a lot easier to follow a highly specialised discussion. Dr. Zuber's background as a career officer in the U.S. army is also an asset in his elucidation of the operational aspects of war planning during these years.
On the minus side it would have helped if the book included a chapter on the political and economic dimensions to the war planning prior to 1914 and especially during 1900-1914.This would have put the discussion in context and also rounded off the book especially for general readers. Also since the Dieckmann manuscript breaks off at 1904, to extrapolate by close reading, Schlieffens thoughts to 1905 and after is problematic. It is also an assumption that Dieckmann had access to all the documents since it is well known that prior to issuing out new deployment orders for each year, the ones for the previous year were burned. Also many documents were lost during the disturbances and revolution in 1918 and that the General Staff introduced many forged documents into the archives. It is strongly recommended that this book be read in conjunction with Arden Bucholz': Moltke, Schlieffen and Prussian War Planning and Annika Mombauers' book:Helmuth Von Moltke and the Origins of the First World War.

As expected, Zuber's thesis has set of intense debates in the Military History journals and has also occasioned recently an international conference organised by Militargeschichtliches Forschungsamt (MGFA) in Postdam. This book is a major contribution to knowledge for the German war planning for the first world war and it is hoped that Oxford University Press would bring out a lower priced paperback edition for the wider audience.

This is a splendid coffee table book on Ireland and the Irish. The photography is exceptional and captures much of the essence of Ireland and her people.

This is must have photography book on Ireland. The images jump out at you. This has to be the most lavish book published on this magical place.

Kevin Dwyer's "Ireland - Our Island Home" highlights that island's heritage with a stunning collection of aerial photographs around Ireland's coastline. The images, shot from helicopters and small planes at low altitude and oblique angles, provide beautiful, detailed panoramas. The contrasting scenary ranges from the urban areas around Dublin and Cork to the wilds of West Ireland. A series of captions and miniature maps describe the subjects and the general locations where the photographs were taken.

The photographs are a reminder of how varied the Irish landscape can be, and how beautifully green it looks from the air (and from the ground). Lighthouses, farm fields, sheep pastures, and small villages mingle with old forts and modern port facilities. This book is highly recommended to those who have been to Ireland, and to those who plan to go. The book provides a unique perspective on a lovely country.

We went to Ireland and picked up this book while we were there. I was afraid that it would be cheaper in the U.S. -- we paid 30 euros -- and it was. Still, we have no buyer's regret.

This is a set of stunning aerial shots of the Irish coastline. While we took what we think are very good pictures, these are beautiful pictures that we cannot duplicate because they are aerial. They will be treasured reminders of many of the places that we visited.

If you're going to Ireland, been to Ireland, or just wish that you could go, and you love to hang out in coastal areas, this is a book for you.

I have oredered this calendar every year for the past 4 years, ever since I received it as a gift 5 years ago. There is no other I'd ever want! Thank you, Tom Kelly. :-)

my wife looks forward to the new Irish calendar every year
We see some familiar spots in the photos

Masterfully photographed, and printed on high quality paper, this book is a must have for any armchair traveller.
The book provides a map of the region on the inside cover, and then follows a brief and informative historical overview, which introduces the region to the reader. From that point onwards the book consists of one splendid photograph after the other, very often on a full page, or even spread over double pages, all with short descriptions to accompany them. The book depicts rural country scenes as well as historical landmarks, grand vistas to great architectural photos and even prominent statues. In short, everything the region has to offer.
I am also the proud owner of New England (Photographic Tour) by the same author and photographer and as such, I can highly recommend any one of the books in this series.

I purchased this book as a gift and was so impressed I had to buy one for myself! Photography which captures the distinct and rare beauty of Ireland and well-written text that describes and explains the many points of interest found in Ireland. If you've never been to Ireland this book will make you plan a holiday. If Ireland is already a favourite place to visit reading this book will make you want to return. High quality binding.

I purchased this book while on a trip to Ireland. I was looking for a book that captured the beauty of the landscape that I had seen. This book does that ~ and much, much more. The photographs in the book are so beautiful that it's hard to believe that they are real. The colors and images are deep in color and rich with detail.

This coffee-table book covering Ireland scenes from the air will make an excellent conversation piece or addition to the home of any with a prior affection for the country. Aerial views provide spectacular geographic insight on the land's various changes and will appeal to any with a fascination for Ireland.

Maria Tymoczko, long respected Joyce scholar and investigator of ancient, even pre-literate Irish history and legends, in the polyglot original, brings together these two fields of her expertise in a brilliant volume which introduces the reader gently and fully to both.

Anyone intrigued by that greatest novel of the twentieth century: Ulysses (or is it actually the record of the dreaming soul: Finnegans Wake) and hungry for fuller understanding does well to study carefully this large book, bearing both great tomes in hand like Breen outside Barney Kiernan's. Anyone desiring to feel fully the great Irish literary tradition does well as well to study carefully this book, finding the millenium long tradition's fullest culmination within the labyrinthine works of Joyce.

I always feel the greatest commentary on James JOyce is the one I currently consider. This Irish Ulysses is the greatest commentary of Joyce, case closed, and the greatest plea for a recognition of Irish literary tradition and political history, both of which were long denied under the bootheel of the British oppressor.

Kindly see the current price for a NEW copy of the paperback edition. It is less than the cost of shipping, and far less than the cost of less worthy commentary. Please, I encourage you to acquire this multi-levelled text, which opens the door not only to Joyce but thusly to all of Irish literary and historical tradition (have I already said that? sorry, forgive my redundancy!)

Maria Tymoczko's The Irish Ulysses is an amazing read and a must for anyone interested in Ulysses or James Joyce. It is difficult for me to express, properly, my admiration for this book as it delivers James Joyce to his proper status as hero of the Irish Literary Revival.

I read Maria Tymoczko's The Irish Ulysses shortly after finishing Edna O'Brien's biography of James Joyce. The timing was perfect. In reading Ms. O'Brien's biography, I almost had the sense of reading a scandal sheet and wondered why it is that we so easily confuse a writer's fiction with his or her reality. Why we feel so triumphant in connecting moments in real life with moments in fiction and allowing our imaginations to fill the blanks between those connections.

Ms. Tymoczko resists the temptation to tread the same ground of Joyce's real life and moves, instead, to the Irishness of Ulysses. After reading The Irish Ulysses, I cannot imagine harboring doubt as to its conclusions, nor can I imagine a reader who might fail to see the specifically Irish nature of Ulysses. The argument based on a comparison between various moments in early Irish literature and Ulysses was sound enough, but Ms. Tymoczko does not leave it at that. She thoroughly examines what literature would have been available to Joyce, as well as that which he actually had as part of his library. From newspaper sources to the holdings of the library in Trieste, Ms. Tymoczko leaves little room for doubt that Ulysses is Joyce's creation of an Irish epic to rival that of any nation's literary tradition. I cannot do justice to this book or it's import to the world of Ulysses scholarship.

This volume is truly comprehensive, bringing us the stories behind all of the Irish passengers on the Titanic, both travellers and crew, as well as a few non-Irish who so happened to have embarked upon the ill-fated vessel on its final stop before heading into the Atlantic, the Irish city of Queenstown. Although there are some people with not a lot of biographical information available, most of the people covered do have a lot of great fascinating information. All of the entries for the passengers start with how much they paid for their tickets, the address they were intending to go to upon arrival, which class they travelled in, where they hailed from, where they boarded, and if they had been originally booked on the ship Cymric but changed to the Titanic. These people came from all walks of life; there are stories about people who were travelling back to America after visiting family in Ireland, coming over to marry a sweetheart, planned to become teachers, were hoping to make their fortunes in America, were running away with a forbidden love (such as 19 year old Michael McEvoy and his 34 year old girlfriend Norah Murphy; Michael was lost and Norah was saved), and those who were immigrating to America to join relatives who had already made the trip and had sent for them. We get information on their lives before, during, and (for those who survived) after this unforgettable traumatic event; these people's lives are not being exclusively defined by having been on the Titanic. This book also clears up some decades-old misinformation about some of these people and their stories, such as how some of these people's names have been incorrectly reported since 1912 (e.g., Annie Jerymin's real name was Annie Jermyn; Julian Smyth's real name was Julia Smyth).

The majority of the people profiled here were travelling in third class, and most of them were lost. There were only a small number in second class, and of the handful of passengers in first class, only one was saved. As is pointed out in the introduction, the famous "Women and children first" line was really more like "First-class British women and children first," since most of the sterrage passengers were not only not saved but also in many cases weren't even able to get up to the lifeboats, being locked below deck or kept behind barred gates. Even those relatively few Irish who were saved were mostly in the last lifeboats and collapsibles of the night to be lowered, as though the survival of the lower-classes were an afterthought. Who got a spot in a lifeboat was very much a racist and classist thing. For example, the final boat to make it off the vessel, Collapsible B, had to be cut free and pushed into the water at 2:20 at night, when the boat barely had any time left to live, with the three Irish survivors and the others who got on it having to climb onto it in its upturned state and stay balanced there until their rescue. Besides race and class, there were other factors at work in who lived and who died. There are stories of people who had to jump into boats already in the water, who gave up spots in lifeboats because they wouldn't abandon a spouse or other loved one, who almost missed the chance to be saved because they had to go back to get a prized possession, men who dressed as women to get into lifeboats, and those who had to be forced to just go empty-handed and forget saving their things (one woman, Nora Keane in second class, was actually trying to get dressed instead of going as she was, and her cabin mate had to grab her before she could start putting on her corset, unable to believe she "could put her life at risk over a foolish item of clothing at the height of a shipwreck").

All in all, this is a great book for those who are interested in history, the Irish people, the history of immigration to America, or the Titanic itself. Although it is kind of depressing to see how many names at the beginning of each entry have "Lost" instead of "Saved" next to them, their life stories are all full of life, letting us know a lot more about these people than just that they were on the Titanic. It's a shame such a wonderful book is currently out of print.

With over 500 Titanic books in the English language available, one might ask why one more? If you have an interest in the passengers, one look through this book will answer your question. It is quite simply the most exhaustive and complete work on the Irish passengers available anywhere, from the few in the upper classes, to the huddled masses who traveled in third class looking for a new life in another country.

Some of the entries, are rather skimpy, but only because so little information is available on a lot of these obscure figures. Other entries are very complete due in no small part to years worth of research and detective work on Mr. Maloney's part, with details on lives befor, during and after the sinking.

If you want to know about the Irish aboard the Titanic, who they were, who didn't survive, who did, and how their lives were changed, this is the book to have!

A book every Irish American should own. The book gives information on the political parties, the government, statistics on counties, sports information, biographical information and oodles of facts relating to Ireland. Highly recommended!

A book every Irish American should own. The book gives information on the political parties, the government, statistics on counties, sports information, biographical information and oodles of facts relating to Ireland. Highly recommended!